Monday, April 23, 2012

Junior Daniel Primiani Earns a Top Award at History Honor Society Conference

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Washington College
junior Daniel Primiani’s research paper on the Revolutionary War and slavery
earned a top prize at a recent conference hosted by the history honor society
Phi Alpha Theta. Primiani brought home the third-place award after presenting
his paper, “The Slaves of the Revolution: An Exploration of the Effect of the
Revolutionary War on Slaves in the State of Virginia” at the society’s Mid-Atlantic
Region conference at Towson University. His was one of only three undergraduate
and two graduate works recognized at the regional conference.

Primiani,
of Trevilians, Va., was surprised by the recognition. “I wasn’t really
expecting to win because of the number of people there,” he said of the
students in attendance from schools that included Catholic University, George
Washington University, Georgetown University, Howard University, McDaniel
College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, St. Mary’s College and Towson
University.

Two other Washington
College students participated in the conference: Mike Kuethe, a senior from
Severna Park, Md., presented a paper titled “Archeology of Anglo-Saxon
Ironworking Sites: Assembling a Historical Picture from the Remains of the
Past,” and Charles Weisenberger, a senior from Nazareth, Pa., explored the fate
of America’s fugitive slave communities in his paper, "The Ecological,
Political, and Cultural Failures of American Maroons.”

History
Professor Kenneth Miller organized Washington College’s participation in the conference, soliciting
work from chapter members and selecting for submission the three best and most
appropriate papers for the conference. “The members of the History Department
have always felt very confident about the students we send to these annual
regional conferences,” Miller said. “Dan, Mike, and Chuck are three of our
best. I knew they’d do us proud.”

Miller
was particularly pleased with Primiani’s recognition: “He’s been doing
fantastic work this year. Claiming a third-place prize is no small
achievement.”